Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers,
1936, The Far East, Volume IV

793.94/7700: Telegram

The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to
the Secretary of State

Tokyo, January 30, 1936—noon.[Received
January 30—5:17 a.m.]

19. In recent conversation my British colleague asked the Minister for
Foreign Affairs as to the truth of the local press report that one of
the three Japanese requirements for a Sino-Japanese rapprochement was that China should recognize Manchukuo.
Hirota replied that such was not the case. He realized that China could
not possibly recognize Manchukuo under present circumstances but hoped
that the situation could be gradually developed with recognition as an
ultimate aim. For the present he merely wished to see an improvement in
the factual relations between China and Manchukuo involving customs
ports, et cetera. He also hoped that the Chinese Government would cease
to refer to Manchukuo as “a puppet state”.

In the same conversation Clive54 said that he considered
the alleged autonomous government in East Hopei a farce and that Yin Ju
Keng is notoriously a “scalawag”. Hirota did not commit himself.